Israeli forces shelled all three major hospitals in northern Gaza—Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, and the Indonesian Hospital—on the night of October 18-19. The attacks followed a two-week siege imposed on the region by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
Dozens of people, including health staff, were killed or injured during the attacks, which targeted hospital grounds despite patients and displaced people sheltering there. Similarly, attacks on Jabalia killed health workers and their family members, including nurses from Kamal Adwan and Al-Shifa hospitals, according to hospital sources. Later on October 19, reports on social media revealed that the IOF detained a large group of Palestinian men near the Indonesian Hospital, holding them in what appeared to be a large pit. The reports raised concerns that these men, like thousands of other Gazans, are likely to be forcibly disappeared at the hands of Israeli forces.
The attacks severely damaged all three hospitals. Large sections of Al-Awda’s upper floors were destroyed in shelling, and parts of the Indonesian Hospital’s walls and Kamal Adwan’s laboratory entrance were blown apart or damaged. According to reports from Al Jazeera, all three facilities have effectively been forced out of service by the assaults, leaving hundreds of people—including pregnant women, children, and critically injured patients—without any access to care.
Read more: Israeli attacks on Palestinian healthcare amount to crime against humanity, UN inquiry warns
In a video statement, Dr. Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital, described the conditions from last night. He stated that the hospital was unable to provide critical care due to the shortage of supplies and, as a result of the fuel running out, staff could not start the generator. Al-Sultan added that IOF forces had surrounded shelters near the hospital, trapping hundreds of displaced families, including newborns and the elderly.
“All of these people are dying silently now,” Al-Sultan concluded.
Israel’s assaults on Palestinian healthcare have been labeled as crimes against humanity, including by UN inquiries. The recent siege and attack on the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza only add to the growing body of evidence of the genocidal intent behind IOF attacks.
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.